Les, I asked a similar question a few months ago on D Mooney’s Cafe. I
asked:
“If someone were to do just one end of the car, does it matter which is done
first? Will the handling be adversely affected by improving just the front
or just the rear? If so, which do you recommend doing before the other? If
not, which would give the better improvement to the handling of the car?”
Dan Mooney’s response was:
"Good question(s)… to which there are no easy answers 
The truth is that suspension upgrades should only be carried out having
first given careful consideration to a number of basic factors:
#1 - Safety
#2 - Intended use for the finished vehicle - and therefore what you are
hoping to achieve by carrying out the upgrades
#3 - Driving style/Driver ability
In an ideal world, every E Type owner would simply add me as an authorized
user on their credit card account and have me send out a complete
(standardized) upgrade package for their E Type. The fact of the matter is
that you would all need different specification kits. Some people might
benefit from having a degree of understeer dialed into their suspension
geometry - whereas others might find this somewhat restricting and crave a
walk on the wild side (i.e. oversteer).
In simple terms, you encourage understeer by stiffening up the front of the
car and oversteer by stiffening up the rear. Speak to 10 drivers of 10
racing E Types at a race track and you will hear 10 different opinions about
preferred spring rates, shock settings, etc, etc. The only thing upon which
they will probably all agree is that the number one limiting factor in terms
of an E Type’s handling capability is the size (and therefore strength) of
the torsion bars which can be used.
For practical everyday purposes, if you were considering upgrading the
suspension of your E Type in stages, I would suggest that you start by
making sure that all your BASIC COMPONENTS are in good condition. By basic
components I mean balljoints, wheel bearings, control arm bushings, etc.
There is absolutely no point spending money on a set of shiny Team CJ shock
absorbers when your bushings and balljoints are 10 years beyond their sell
by date!
Having established that the basics are covered, I would probably start your
upgrading program with a set of top quality, adjustable shock absorbers.
Certainly you can safely upgrade the shock absorbers without addressing all
the other various components, and, assuming you install shocks with a
reasonable adjustment range, you also introduce the ability to ‘tune’ your
suspension depending upon your driving style and individual preferences.
With our Team CJ shocks we have found that some of our customers use a low
setting (1 to 3) for normal street driving and adjust them up to 5 or 6 (the
max) for participation in slalom or autocross events.
Upgrading torsion bars independent of any other component upgrade can also
provide safe increases in both handling and performance, without presenting
you with oversteering problems.On the basis that understeer is basically a safer alternative to oversteer, if you backed me into a corner I would be inclined to start at the front of the car and work back! There really isn’t a simple answer to your questions, Craig. Certainly ALL upgrades should be done with a careful eye on how they will affect the car’s performance generally. To an extent, you are going to have to rely upon good advice from your chosen supplier as to which upgrades may (or may not) be appropriate to your personal needs. PS. You don’t have to remove the IRS assembly to change your shocks and springs. Best Regards, Dan Mooney Team CJ Original Message ----- From: “Halls Les” l_halls@yahoo.com To: e-type@jag-lovers.org Sent: Wednesday, 21 March, 2001 23:52 PM Subject: Re: [E-Type] Re: XKE Sway Bars I’ve heard that it’s not wise to fit just one of these things and it’s best to replace them as matched pairs due to the problems of over/understeer that can be generated? Anyway, glad to be of service. Les. Michael Frank mfrank@westnet.com wrote:
Les:
Just checked Keisler’s site…great prices…the
bars alone (no bushings
or end links)are down to $99! I think they set a
new price point… I’m
going to order a front bar tomorrow, thanks for the
tip.Mike Frank
1969 E-Type 2+2
New York